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Poland’s Yarab shapes up for race
Dr. Ron Yarab of Poland will be racing the No. 4 Children’s Tumor Foundation/Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 with three co-drivers at this weekend’s Grand-Am Sports Car Rolex 24 hour at Daytona Beach, Fla.
The Rolex 24 is the first major event on the international motorsports calendar. The 2012 edition is the golden anniversary of North America’s premier 24-hour endurance race.
This year’s competitive field includes Juan Pablo Montoya, A.J. Allmendinger, Dario Franchitti and Michael Waltrip.
Yarab’s driving partners are Justin Bell, Ryan Eversley and Daniel Graeff.
This will be Yarab’s fifth appearance at the 24-hour race. His team finished eighth in 2011 in the GT class.
The No. 4 car qualified 17th out of 46 GT cars with a lap time of 1:50.421 on the 4.6-mile course. The pole-winning lap time was 1:49.67.
“I thought we’d be higher — like closer to the top 10, but we didn’t quite make it,” Yarab said Thursday.
He said that the top 20 cars are separated by less than a second.
“You can see how close everything is.”
The Rolex 24 isn’t just going around an oval. The infield is used as the road course.
“You have to slow down and make turns,” Yarab said. “It makes it more interesting.”
Top speed for the No. 4 car should reach 183-184 mph.
“Every car does that every lap,” Yarab said. “When you’re coming down the main straightaway, there’s no backing off. The pedal is buried and you’re searching for more.”
Because of the golden anniversary, the race has attracted world-renowned road racers, including Bell and Eversley.
In any other year, the team would have a top five to 10 finish, Yarab said, but this year, on paper, he anticipates finishing between 12th to 17th.
“That’s on paper, but it doesn’t matter. It’s like craziness,” said Yarab, who acknowledged that his chances of a better finish are lessened.
“The race is about staying on the track for 24 hours not about speed. It’s not running a car flat-out, but, rather, maintaining pace. You can’t run at qualifying speeds. Your set-up has to be for race trim, rather than qualifying.”
In preparation for the 50th running, Yarab, who turned 50 in November, also managed to shed 60 pounds (his goal was 50) to get in shape for the race.
“I’ve got the 50-50-50 thing going and my goal is to run in the 1:50 range,” Yarab said of the lap time he hopes to maintain against the pros on his team.
Yarab said he’ll try to sleep, relax and eat during his breaks.
“It’s hard when you’re out of the car because it takes three hours for your adrenaline to calm down,” Yarab said. A Boardman High graduate, Yarab was a shot-putter who finished second at state his senior year in 1980 with a throw of 63 feet. He attended the University of South Carolina on a track scholarship and received his medical degree.
The team will be raising money for the Children’s Tumor Foundation for research to cure neurofibromatosis. Last year’s team raised more than $600,000 during the race.
Donations may be made at www.racing4research.org.